Secrets
by RainyApples
Summary: She spent her first fifteen years living how her parents asked her to; half truth, half deception. But once her parents get killed, she's free to act however she wants. She just can't tell anyone the secrets that are suffocating her.
1. Chapter 1

I kind of love ShikamaruXSakura pairings... It's so cute! Sadly they aren't as popular... :/

Hope you guys like it!

_Secrets: Chapter 1_

* * *

Sakura was considered S-ranked at age 15. And nobody even knew.

_I'm drowning._

Sakura, age 12

It was a week after Sasuke had left her behind on that bench and she was still depressed. It wasn't because she supposedly loved him, it was because she knew that with his departure that Team 7 would never be completely whole again. She hadn't even liked him that much, she had found it an amusing source of fun to provoke Ino-pig and it he was good-looking. Plus her parents had drilled the family motto into her ever since she had been born. _Deception must be constant._ Her parents were living proof of their motto.

Her parents were considered, by the whole village except for the Third Hokage and Sakura herself, civilians. Perhaps if a team of recon ANBU had an S-Ranked mission to observe her parents, they might have noticed. Just maybe. Because who would ever suspect that her seemingly average parents were shinobi? And considered S-Ranked too because of all the information they knew.

But no one ever knew. Because the non-existent Haruno clan specialized in three things; intelligence, their clones, and deception. They were pretty much the record keepers and spies of Konoha and reported only to the Hokage, and him alone. It was doubtful that the Council even knew of their existence, they only accepted that information on other villages filtered into Konoha with surprising accuracy and detail. Ever since Sakura had been born up until now, the only training her parents had ever asked of her had been to live half her life as she wanted and half of it as a lie. So that's what she did; she put on a fangirl attitude but kept her smarts. Even during the fight against Zabuza and Haku she had played the weak, fangirly genin to perfection. Yes, she was weak. But was she an embarrassing fangirl? Hell no. So as she sat in bed, holding the picture in her hands, she realized that in order to protect what was left of Team 7 she would have to get stronger. She put the picture down and headed to the kitchen, where her parents were both home from their missions.

"Mom, Dad?" They looked up from eating their breakfast and turned to her. She prepared herself for the hellish training that was to come. "I want to learn the Clan techniques." Her parents immediately focused their piercing eyes on their daughter.

Her father was solemn. "Are you prepared? Mentally?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"You are aware that Clan training will require you to sacrifice your personality to deceive everyone? Your mask must be perfect, never to be broken." Her mother spoke up and gazed at her daughter intently.

"Yes. I can accept that." She had been pushing off her private training for a year now and while her parents had been okay with it, she knew they wanted her to begin as soon as possible. And she knew that the moment her training begun, her interaction with others would probably be at least seventy-five percent lies, and twenty-five percent her true self. That once she mastered it, her deception and mask would completely cover her.

She could see the approval in her parent's eyes.

"Very well, we shall begin."

Both her parents stood up and walked to the basement. Although their house looked normal from the outside and inside, there were so many secret seals and areas that not even Sakura knew about. The basement was where all training occurred but this was the first time that Sakura would see it since it was reserved only for clan training.

"We'll start off with the clones." Her mother said. "Let us begin."

* * *

Sakura, Age 14

Sakura was three-quarters done with her training, which was to perfect the clones and her chakra control mainly. Deception hadn't really been a big part of her training since she didn't have to keep her shinobi status a secret, only her techniques and knowledge. Even though there were technically three parts to master, intelligence held two meanings. For one, it meant she had to be smart and able to strategize, but it also meant information gathering. The first part was as easy as breathing for her, but information gathering would only be possible if her parents died or if she succeeded their position since it was based solely on clones.

The clones had been the most difficult. They were very similar to Naruto's Kage Bushin no Jutsu in the sense that they had solid bodies, but the her clan's clones took it to a whole new level. They were special because they could stay solid even if she and the clone were separated by a long distance and could mimic all bodily actions, like bleeding, to make it seem even more realistic. She could also control them personally if needed or she could put them on a sort of autopilot, where their personalities were like a robot's.

Her chakra reserves were growing, in a year or two they would be on par with Naruto's, since it took quite a lot of chakra to maintain more than ten clones over a long distance. In order to maintain chakra flow between the clones, her parents had placed a two seals on her back in the form of tattoos. The first tattoo effectively helped Sakura limit the amount of chakra each clone had while the second tattoo stored bits of her chakra for emergencies, and kept Sakura's own chakra levels moderate.

Sakura Age 15

Sakura walked along the dusty path to Training Ground 3. Her training outfit had changed over the past year, she now wore black shorts along with a white medic skirt, and a black t-shirt with the Haruno clan symbol on the back. She had also grown her hair out so that when she let it down it reached mid-back but she usually preferred putting it into a messy high bun held with two poisoned senbon.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. He had matured a lot since Sasuke's departure and was planning to go on a training trip with the sannin Jiraiya soon.

"Hey Naruto." She smiled and thought of her own training. It had hurt her to realize that Kakashi would not train her. His attention had always been on Sasuke and after he had, his focus had shifted onto Naruto.

'**He underestimates us.' **Inner seethed.

'_But it's fine. It means our secrets will stay hidden.' _Sakura replied.

'**He never cared much for us. Only them.'** Inner was the part of Sakura that sought for acknowledgement for what she could truly do.

'_It's partly our fault too; his first impression of us was a clumsy, ditzy, fangirl. Not the best impression.'_ She regretted having overplayed her role slightly now, it had come to bite her in the ass. She also regretted even having her crush on Sasuke, his departure had made her realize that she hadn't seen underneath the underneath. And she had finally seen that under his cold attitude, was a scarred boy who was willing to trade his soul for revenge. He could be brought back to the light, but the question was if he would allow others to help him back.

She sighed and a twinge of sadness hit her heart when she looked at Naruto. She would miss him during his training period. Naruto's eager voice broke her from her thoughts.

"I promise to bring Sasuke back when I'm done training, okay?" Naruto grinned at her and she smiled back.

"Thanks Naruto, but stay safe. Promise me you'll come back alive, with or without Sasuke. Okay?" Inside she felt like crying. She loved Naruto like a brother and even though having Sasuke back would mean that Team 7 would be reunited at last, she would rather have Naruto safe with Hinata than him and Sasuke fighting to the death. Which could happen, considering their personalities.

"Eh?" Naruto's smile faltered for a second before it came back even bigger. "Don't worry! I'll bring Sasuke home for sure! And stay alive, dattebayo!"

"You better. If you come back dead, I'll kill you, bring you back to life, kill you _again_, then bring you back to life." She smirked. "And I'll make sure you never have children. Got it?"

"Y-y-yes." Naruto was pale and stuttering like Hinata. "Got it!"

Sakura laughed. "Good. Let's go meet up with Kakashi-sensei. I wonder what his excuse is gonna be this time."

* * *

Sakura: Age 15 (One week to her 16th birthday)

"Mom? Dad?" She walked into her house and rounded the corner to meet the stench of blood and a figure standing above her parents on the floor. She snarled. "Who are you?"

The figure straightened up and she could see that it was a rough nin. "Oh, a pretty little girl, I'll have my _fun_ with you once I finish with your parents, the ones who managed to get me banished from my village." Sakura could hear a smirk in his voice. She looked at her parents on the floor, fighting back the urge to sink to the floor and cry. Quickly assessing their situation, she could tell that she was far too late to save her mother but her father had a chance if she moved quickly. She sank into an offensive stance.

"Bring it." She disappeared and reappeared behind the man while using a quickly formed chakra scalpel to cut his right arm.

"You bitch! I'm going to rape you and kill you!" He snarled and he threw a kunai at her with his left hand. She dodged easily and rushed at him again with her chakra scalpel. This time, she swiped her scalpel across his chest, cutting through his ribs and his heart. He fell to the ground, gasping, as the blood in his heart chambers rushed out into his body and he died a slow, painful death.

She ran over to her father to see if she could save him. It only took one glace to see that her mother had died during her fight with the rough nin. "Daddy?" She whispered as she brought her glowing hands to his chest and assessed the damage. As she scanned, she knew it was too late. Four of his ribs were broken, both of his lungs was punctured, his left leg was broken in five places, and two of his major arteries had been cut. He smiled weakly at her, then turned serious as he grabbed her hands. "Sakura. Keep the secrets. They will be heavy, but you _must bear them_. Do you understand me?" He was growing weaker with each word. She nodded, tears streaming down her face. He continued. "No one must find out, _you_ are the only one left now. When it's hard to bear the burden, remember, we love you. Stay strong. Always be our little Sakura." It took the last of his remaining energy to muster up a smile for her. One last smile before the light in his eyes faded.

"_Mommy. Daddy._" She brought both of their bodies to the center of the room and laid them side by side. She cried silently as she closed their empty eyes and as she kneeled over the two bodies, tears plopped down onto their cold faces. She kept crying even when she noticed two ANBU appear and take control of the situation.

* * *

The next day, she stood in front of Tsunade's desk in her office looking like hell.

After her parents bodies had been taken to the morgue, she had spent all night comforting herself over their deaths and preparing for her duty. The moment her father had died, a small circular seal had appeared on her back in between her shoulder blades. It linked directly to a seal the Hokage also had and would burn slightly whenever the Hokage summoned her. She had also spent the better part of the night taking control of the clones her parents had spread out in various areas. There were ten of them hidden in various villages, and were the reason why Sakura had been trained the most in her chakra reserves. Her parents reserves were half of hers because both of them supported five clones each. But since Sakura was the only one, she would have to support all ten by herself.

She hadn't gotten around to the secret memory jutsu yet. It was a scroll hidden in her basement that would transfer every piece of information her parents had ever known and kept into her own mind. History would literally be implanted into her brain. However, the transfer jutsu took three days, which was why she had put it off for now. She would have to hurry though, in case Tsunade summoned her. Her parents had only ever told their true identity to the Third Hokage after nearly fifteen years of secret missions. When Tsunade had taken over, they had told her that their successor would only reveal his/her identity after proving him/herself.

"Sakura, honey, I'm so sorry." Honey brown eyes took in her pink haired apprentice who was looking haggard. "We're going to start arranging for a funeral as soon as possible."

Sakura shook her head. "I'd like to have a private funeral please. And I'd appreciate it if their deaths were kept between the ANBU, you, me, and records."

Tsunade's eyes softened and she frowned. "Sakura, honey, are you sure? Why don't you want to tell them?"

"I don't…" Sakura began, then trailed off. "I don't want them to see me as weak again. Not after Sasuke. Besides, my parents were very reserved. They weren't very close with a lot of people."

Tsunade was still frowning. "If that's what you want Sakura…"

She nodded firmly. "Yes, shishou."

"Very well then." Tsunade sighed. "Take a week off Sakura. Don't overexert yourself okay? And if you ever need comfort remember that me and Shizune are always here for you."

Sakura smiled then. A very small one. "Thanks shishou."


	2. Chapter 2

Slow updates from me... :D

* * *

Sakura: Age 17

Sakura was sitting near a waterfall. Correction, she was underneath the waterfall sitting in a meditation pose. She spent most of her free time here when she wasn't pulling hospital shifts or controlling her clones personally.

'**Sakuraa~ Mission's finished!'** Inner squealed in her mind. **'Pretty easy since it was considered A-ranked.'**

'_Good job…'_ Sakura muttered back, trying to get back to meditating.

'**Awwww, c'mon Sakura! No victory dance?' **Inner pouted.

'_Nope. It was an A-rank, we only do victory dances on S-ranked. Plus I'm meditating so that I can calm down before I have to face them again.'_

'**Oops. I'll let you get back to that.'**

'_Yeah. Don't forget to report to the Hokage.' _Sakura reminded.

'**Got it, got it. Inner Sakura, out!'** And with that Inner left to run the clone's body back to Konoha.

Inner had been very useful for helping Sakura with her clan's duty. Since Sakura's body wouldn't be able to handle twelve hour long hospital shifts during the day and then S-ranked missions at night, she sent Inner out in a clone instead. Sending out Inner to do her ANBU missions for her was also helpful since Inner could block out all the details of the mission that Sakura didn't want to see. After her first few solo assasination missions -they had resulted in her crying and throwing up when she got back to her room- Inner had taken over and now completed most of them, even though Sakura did some of them herself through a clone sometimes.

Feelings of guilt were why she was meditating under a waterfall. When the three day jutsu had finally been completed she had opened her eyes with the knowledge of all the secrets Konoha had kept hidden. Even the ones off the records. It was painful. It hurt to know that she knew things her friends desperately wanted to know but she couldn't tell them, even if she wanted to. She knew about Kakashi's father and Obito, Naruto's parentage, Sai's past, and the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. She couldn't face any of them and after Sasuke had come back, it was hard looking him in the face without feeling guilty. He had come back after killing Orochimaru and said he would train here until he was strong enough to defeat Itachi. Sakura had smiled and welcomed him back, but inside he felt like throwing up because she knew Itachi was innocent. She felt sick of all the secrets, like she was drowning and no one could ever pull her out.

She absent mindedly traced all the seals and tattoos on her body. There was a dragon that ran from her right shoulder down to her right hip that helped her maintain the constant chakra flow for her ten, sometimes eleven, clones. An invisible circular seal in between her shoulder blades that only appeared when the Hokage summoned her, technically Inner, for off the record missions. Sakura petals swirled from the back of her left shoulder to the top of her left arm and each petal stored bits of her chakra for emergencies. An ANBU swirl that only appeared on her clone's arm when it was on a mission. And then there was the seal on her tongue. It was exactly like Sai's seal except it merely restricted her from uttering Konoha secrets and did not kill her. It was the reason why Sakura couldn't tell Naruto about his parents; she literally couldn't unless the Hokage removed it, which was unlikely.

She cleared her mind again and concentrated on her clones that were miles and miles away from her. They stuck to the shadows and only revealed themselves when a mission was close and Sakura or Inner operated them to complete missions. She sifted through each of their minds to see if their eyes had seen anything suspicious. _Nothing._ She smiled, relaxing, and listened to the roar of the waterfall. It was a daily ritual she did, kind of like Shikamaru's cloud obsession except hers had slightly more purpose.

Her eyes snapped open as she felt a chakra signal come closer and closer slowly. She relaxed slightly when she recognized the chakra signature.

"Hey Shikamaru. What's up?" She was actually comfortable around Shikamaru. He had no deep dark secrets she could know and he didn't bother her with too much talking.

"Going to watch clouds in the fields." Her drawled as he continued heading past the waterfall. Then he paused. "Do you want to come?"

Her eyebrows shot up slightly and she nodded. "Yes please." She got out from underneath the waterfall and put her hair into a dripping high bun. She looked down at herself. Her large black T-shirt, the bandages on her arms, and her black shorts were all dripping wet. She glanced briefly at the sky, it was a hot day so her clothes would dry off quickly. She made her way over to Shikamaru and smiled at him. "Lead the way."

* * *

"Hey Shikamaru?" Sakura asked. "Why do you like watching clouds so much?" They were both lying in an open field side by side looking at the clouds drifting by.

"They're peaceful. Pure. Calming." He replied.

Sakura looked at the clouds and frowned. "They look like innocence. Seeing the world in black and white before realizing that there are so many shades of gray it's like the world is drowning you. It's so high up there. Must feel nice to be free." She murmured, envious of the beauty and freedom.

"You speak like everything in the world is smothered in darkness." Shikamaru had shifted his head slightly to look at Sakura. He wasn't close to her really, it was always Ino who hung out with Sakura so he had always passed her off as Ino's gossipy friend, today's invite to watch the clouds had been out of manners—he hadn't actually expected her to say yes.

"To me it might as well be." She whispered, and they lapsed into silence.

* * *

An hour after Sakura had last spoken, Shikamaru felt like his cloud gazing time was at an end and it was time for napping. He sat up and looked over at Sakura to find that she had already skipped to his part two and was sleeping peacefully. He groaned. He _could_ wake her up but that might result in one of her infamous (and potentially deadly) punches and he _really_ didn't like napping with bruises. It would be too troublesome.

He stood up and picked her up bridal style so that he could carry her back to her apartment. Except he had no idea where that was. Great. He sighed and began walking down the long dusty road to Ichiraku's. It was a good bet that Naruto or someone else would be there eating ramen and they would likely know where she lived. He peered into the restaurant, careful of Sakura's head in his arms. His mood brightened slightly when he saw Naruto and Sai eating ramen together.

"Hey." He walked in and stood in front of their table with Sakura in his arms. "She fell asleep and I don't know where her apartment is."

"Why didn't you just wake her up?" Sai questioned, giving him one of his fake smiles.

"Because having her punch me in retaliation would be troublesome." He replied and Sai made an 'ah' sound of understanding. "So here, take her back."

"Can't Shikamaru! I only started on my second bowl of ramen! I have at least five more to go!" Naruto exclaimed while shoving a mouthful of noodles into his mouth. Shikamaru sighed and turned to Sai.

"Ugly is too heavy for me. Her house is near yours but three streets down, ask the old ladies who gossip in the streets where she lives." Sai said with an even bigger, but slightly more real, smile. Sakura twitched in her sleep.

Shikamaru wanted to groan, loudly. "Fine." He left Naruto and Sai to their ramen and started walking in the direction of his house. He looked down at Sakura. She was naturally pale, even outdoor training couldn't tan her, and she definitely had curves from what he had seen in her sopping wet clothes. His forehead creased slightly as he realized that she wasn't heavy at all. She was actually lighter than Ino, which was saying something. Ino dieted like crazy all the time and usually tried to force him and Chouji into doing it with her, which was troublesome.

Maybe it was because Sakura was short, she was around five-four which Ino was around five-seven. But three inches wasn't much of a difference. He stopped thinking about Sakura's weight when he neared his house and saw the old ladies Sai had been talking about.

"Excuse me, do you know where Sakura lives?" He asked as politely as he could without sounding bored. Old ladies were _very_ troublesome.

"Awww! A strapping young lad carrying the every beautiful Sakura! How cute!" One of them squealed when she saw them. Actually squealed. _Troublesome. Very troublesome._

"Aww, honey she lives right there. Keep going, take the second right, and her house is the pink one on the left." Another one replied. "Oh but do be careful, I've seen those teammates of hers try and sneak into her house and believe me, they didn't even make it past any of the windows."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. So not even Sai and Sasuke could get into her house? Naruto he could understand, being the clumsy loud ninja he was, but Sasuke? How troublesome were her traps?

"Thanks." He said as he started heading off with the directions the old lady had given him. As he turned right he stopped dead as he stared at her house. _Pale pink house. Even her _house_ is pink!?_

He approached cautiously and froze as she turned in his arms to snuggle into his chest. _What?_ He ignored the slight feeling of smugness as he tried to figure out if her traps were on. Seeing nothing, he took a step through the gate… And promptly jumped backwards as five kunai flew through where he had been seconds ago. _I would have been stabbed in the lung, stomach, leg, and both kidneys if I had been a split second later in jumping. No wonder her teammates couldn't get in. I didn't even see that trap._ Sakura stirred in his arms. _Shit._

"Shika?" Her voice was small as she squinted up to see the person that was carrying her. "Oh! Shikamaru!" She looked wildly around her. "I'm so sorry I fell asleep I was really tired and I had a really nice nap and you had to carry me all the way back to my house and _OhmyKami_ you set off a trap are you okay?" She said everything in one breath and he wondered how she could talk that fast.

"I'm fine. But since you're awake it saves me the trouble of having to dodge more traps." He let her down and started to head back to his own house.

"Wait, do you want to have some tea and food? As thanks?" He turned to see Sakura staring hopefully at him with puppy dog eyes. It was those eyes that made him agree.

"Sure." He watched as a smile lit up her face.

"Great! Ah, give me a minute, I have to get through these traps." She turned to the gate of her house and smirked slightly before running to her door.

He watched as she expertly dodged all the traps that activated with each step he took. She twirled and flipped her way to the front door as he watched in shock. Finally she made it to the front door and sent a bit of her chakra into the door, which then immediately swung open. She turned back to grin at him.

"You can come in now!" She chirped.

"How come you don't disable your traps?" He asked as he hesitantly made his way to her door, where she was already inside setting up tea and snacks.

"Because I get my slug summons to set them up and make sure they don't tell me what to expect. It's like a mini reaction training session plus when I come home it keeps my senses alert." She gestured for him to sit on her couch as she handed him a cup of tea.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru sipped his tea while Sakura shrugged and sat next to him on the couch.

"It's good practice. Wanna play some shogi?" He smiled a tiny bit. _Maybe she's not so troublesome after all._

* * *

"Here's your tea."

"Thanks." Shikamaru grunted as he set up the shogi board. Suddenly, a thought popped up into his mind. "Did Ino leave you clothes for her get together tonight too?"

Sakura and Shikamaru were preparing for their nearly daily shogi game. After the first time he had come over to her house for shogi, it had become a sort of ritual for the two of them. He stopped by in the mornings before her afternoon hospital shift and they spent a nice one to two hours playing shogi, sipping tea, and talking. Playing shogi with him was calming and helped clear her thoughts for when she had to plan out spying posts. Since she was secretly head of the Intelligence sector, which no one ever saw, she had to plan out how to use the clones and spies at her disposal efficiently. Of course, it would have been great if she could ask Shikamaru for help, seeing as how he was pretty much head of the Tactics and Strategies sector along with his father, but… she couldn't. Bummer.

"Yep. Left them at the gate since she knows from Naruto and Sai stories that she's not gonna make it to the door. I don't even think she tried." Sakura laughed while Shikamaru smirked and moved a piece forward.

He had come over so much in the past three weeks, he could already see slight patterns in the traps in the slugs set, and thus proceeded to set off the traps every morning when he arrived. It was likely due to the fact that he did not appreciate waiting for her to wake up and disable the traps from the inside when he could be playing shogi. That, and her tea and snacks were good.

Sakura moved her own piece forward and took a sip of her tea.

"What'd she leave you?" Shikamaru asked as he moved another piece to counter hers.

"Slutty clothes. Honestly it's not like I'm going to wear them. Look." She moved her piece before leaning over into her dresser and pulling out a set of clothing. She shook them out and showed him the small v-neck shirt and the jean shorts that couldn't be considered shorts, more like undies.

He snorted. "I dare you to wear them. Seriously, everyone would think you'd gone insane."

"Hmm," she grinned, "so what clothes did our piggy leave for _you?_"

He flinched slightly, and then sighed. "Tight black shirt and really low jeans. _Really low. _I refuse to wear those monstrosities. "

"I dare you to wear them then." She smirked evilly and he glared back for a moment.

"Fine. But if you don't, next time I go through your traps I'll bring Team 7 with me." He smirked then and she grinned right back at him.

"I'll steal Chouji's entire food stash and tell him you took it. And I'll also tell Ino you said she was fat."

Shikamaru shuddered. Chouji and Ino after him would kill him. "So I guess you better wear those _thingies_ then."

"Bring it." She deftly moved a piece on the board and declared, "check."

"_Troublesome_," he smirked and moved one of his own pieces, "check_mate_." She scowled.

"Fine. One day I'll win one of these infuriating matches. And then I'll do a victory dance while standing on top of you." She glanced at her clock and stood up. "I gotta go for my shift so tell Ino that I'll be late for her get together since my shift ends at 7, kay?"

"Troublesome."

* * *

Shikamaru sighed as he walked down the road to the bar. Technically, none of them were of age to drink alcohol yet but this was a shinobi bar, their Hokage drank on duty, and a shinobi's life was short. Plus all of them were nearing eighteen except for Neji, Tenten, and Lee, who were already nineteen. But it was still so troublesome to go to the bar. Especially wearing Ino's clothes since he had seen a lot of girls giggling and blushing furiously when they saw him. Honestly, girls were so troublesome. Especially Haruno Sakura. Her traps were troublesome, her dares were troublesome, and her personality was troublesome when she told him not to smoke in her house. Her shogi was very nice though. After Asuma's death he had never found a satisfying opponent to play against until she had popped up.

Haruno Sakura was, in his mind, interesting and troublesome. She sometimes had a look in her eyes when they talking about their village and politics. Her green eyes that were usually bright and happy darkened and when he looked into the depths of her emerald eyes he felt as if she was hiding so much inside. He had walked into her house in the mornings when she was still asleep and found her tossing and turning in her sleep, sometimes crying. And after he hugged her and comforted her until she woke up from her nightmares, she never explained them to him, only gave him her thanks and began setting up the shogi board.

Shikamaru sighed again and ignored the swooning girls on the other side of the street. He turned into the bar and opened the doors while preparing his ears for the coming assault of noise.

"SHIKAMARU!?" At least five voices screamed at him as he walked over to the large tables that held Konoha 12 and their sensei's and sat across from Ino, who sitting very close to Sasuke in the next chair. A week or two after Sasuke had come back Ino was fangirling again over the "hot" Uchiha. Surprisingly Sakura had been the one to welcome him back with a smile, then tell him she was late for her hospital shift. The crowd that had gathered for Sasuke's return had been shocked.

"_Troublesome._ Sakura says she'll be late since her shift ends at seven." He glanced at a clock on the wall that read 7:05. _So she'll be here soon then. Wonder what their reaction to her clothing will be._ He snapped out of his zoning to see the whole bar silent and staring at him.

"What?" He snapped.

"Y-you're actually wearing the clothes I told you to wear? And you walked the whole way here with girls staring at you?" Ino had shaken out of her gaping and now looked at him with a panicked expression.

"Yes. Why?" He asked while calling the waiter over so he could get a bottle of sake.

"Because… you look… good." Kiba muttered. Everyone nodded. It was true. The loose jeans hung off of his hipbones and the black t-shirt accented his muscles very nicely. So nice, in fact, most of the girls at the bar without dates were staring at him and even some of the girls with dates were glancing his way.

Shikamaru shrugged. "It was a dare."

"A dare? By who?" Naruto piped up, his arm around Hinata's shoulders. They had _finally_ gotten together a while ago and Sakura had forced Shikamaru to listen to the _whole story_ of how the cute couple had come to be. Then she had yelled at him for lighting a cigarette during her story and smacked his head.

"You'll see." He smirked. The rest of the table just shot glances at each other and resumed talking and laughing while drinking their sake.

* * *

7:30.

Sakura would be here soon and some serious shit would probably go down. Shikamaru smirked and Chouji, who sat next to him, looked at him questioningly.

"What's up Shika? You've been smirking a lot this whole time." He glanced at his friend worriedly. When Shikamaru smirked it was a sign that shit could, and most definitely would due to Shikamaru's brain, hit the fan. Shikamaru usually never used his genius IQ of over 200 to plot dastardly deeds but when he did, they were funny as hell, ingenious, and they never got caught. One time he, Shikamaru, and Naruto had managed to steal Lee's green bodysuit right off of his body and left Lee running Konoha in his green boxers screaming about how unyouthful it was to take a spandex suit away. Konoha had never figured out exactly how Lee's suit was taken off and who had done it so Lee had been forced to do chores for the Hokage as punishment.

"Nothing." Chouji raised his eyebrows. Suddenly Shikamaru outright grinned and looked at the door in glee. Chouji looked over as well and froze in shock again.

"Holy shit." Chouji muttered as he took in Haruno Sakura.

"Is that _Sakura?_" Kiba asked, his words sounding like he could have died and gone to heaven in that moment.

Sakura had been standing in the doorway and scanning to find her group when she spotted them and walked over.

"Hey guys. What's up?" The group, except for Shikamaru, looked on in silence yet again for the second time in the night. They took in the _new_ Haruno Sakura. Although her clothes were simple, she was _hot_ in them. Her pink hair was longer than ever, it stopped in the middle of her back and her black v-neck t-shirt was tight and displayed curves none of them had even dreamed of on her, stopping an inch or two above her belly button. Her shorts were so short they could have been illegal, and if she bent over in front of anyone they would likely likely get a _very_ good view of her ass and possibly her panties.

"I see you wore the outfit." Shikamaru drawled.

"I see you did too." Sakura replied while she plopped down in the seat next to him. Then she finally noticed the stares coming from everyone. "What?"

"Hag. You look even more ugly." Sai said, smiling his fake smile yet again before Naruto hit him.

"Thanks Sai. Your attitude had improved." She said sarcastically before taking Shikamaru's sake bottle. "What?" She asked as he glared at her. "It's not like you'll be able to finish the whole bottle anyways. Sharing is caring."

"Why are _both_ of you actually wearing the outfits I give you?" Ino demanded, looking angry.

"We made a bet that if I had to wear it then he did too. So we both wore it." Sakura shrugged as she began pouring herself cups of sake.

"The flower of your beauty has bloomed even further my lovely Sakura-chan! Your youthfulness is never ending!" Lee cried, anime tears running down his eyes as he ran over to a room where their senseis and friends were drinking like the Hokage. Everyone at the table merely rolled their eyes as Lee yelled things about Sakura's youthfulness to the people inside. Soon enough, heads poked out of the room to see why Lee and Gai were currently hugging and sobbing.

"Hey Kakashi sensei!" Sakura said as she stood up and made her way over to hug him. "Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Yo, Sakura. What's with the new clothing?" He stepped back and took a good look at his former student, noticing how her clothes accented her curves a lot. She shrugged and sighed.

"Gosh. Seriously, Ino tries to make me wear these clothes every time we gather which is probably why I'll never wear them again after this reaction. Seriously, it was just a dare from Shika." She rolled her eyes. "But I'll talk to you later, it's been a long day at the hospital and I wanna get really drunk." She waved as she walked away, hips swaying before she sat down.

Kakashi stared at her retreating form as did the rest of his Jounin buddies.

"Damn, if she gets super drunk do you think she'll let me play with that body? I didn't even notice her curves until now!" Genma whispered and Kakashi immediately whipped his head around a glared at him.

"That's my _student_ we're talking about and she's way too young for you so touch her and I'll kill you. Got it?" Genma nodded, gulping, while Anko just grinned.

"Overprotective aren't we Kakashi-_sensei_? She would do well on seduction missions. Maybe I'll ask the Hokage when she's older…One or two more years…" Anko mused. Kakashi just shook his head and they all retreated began going back into their private room.

"_Seriously. Hot._" Genma whispered and stole one last glance before grunting in pain as Kakashi punched him.

* * *

A few hours later, Konoha 12 was drunk. Even Sai and Shino, the quiet ones and the ones that usually never got drunk, were sitting in their seats smiling and slurring their words. They were currently engaged in a game of truth or dare and Naruto and Hinata had been forced into a make-out session, Lee had been told to kiss five guys, and Neji had revealed that he still owned a teddy bear.

"So Sakuraaa, truth or dare?" Kiba slurred as he leered at her. Shikamaru rolled his eyes, he was the only one who wasn't slurring the words since he had only had a small amount of sake. Sakura, on the other hand, had about three sake bottles in front of her and was starting on her fourth. Everyone would be nursing serious hangovers tomorrow, especially Sakura.

"Dare. Bring ittt." Sakura said.

"I dare you…" Kiba looked around wildly for ideas, then grinned when his eyes landed on Shikamaru. "I dare you to sit on Shikamaru's lap for the rest of the night."

Sakura just grinned. "Easy peasy." She stood slightly and moved over onto Shikamaru's lap and plopped herself down. He tried to ignore the fact that her butt was right in his crotch area and that her body seemed to fit so naturally in his. Plus her shampoo was strawberry scented. "I dare you to sit on Sai's lap then."

Kiba gagged. "What?"

"Hag, I am beginning to suspect that you have a gay fetish." Sai glared across the table near the edges at her.

"Do it. Chickeeeen!" Sakura giggled and bounced in Shikmaru's lap, clapping her hands in excitement. Shikamaru, on the other hand, was trying _very_ hard not to blush at Sakura's actions.

"Haruno, you shall pay for this someday. I swear it." Kiba grumbled as he moved over to Sai's chair and sat down his lap.

"Doggy, it should be the other way around." Sai looked like his frame was swallowed by Kiba's from Sakura's angle and she burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, Kiba's raping Sai!" Naruto screamed. "Sai! Protect your anal virginity! It's one of the most important things for meeen!"

"Dickless, I am not being raped." Sai said.

"From what it looks like you might be later." Tenten waggled her eyebrows and ignored Sai and Kiba's squawking sounds before turning to Neji. "Neji-kun! Truth or dare?" He glared at her.

"Dare." He shuddered at the thought of the last truth Tenten had given him. That had resulted in him telling everyone that he, _the_ Hyuuga Neji, still owned a teddy bear. It was embarrassing and a hit to his pride.

"I dare you to let Lee sit on your lap." Everyone went silent for a moment breaking breaking down and howling in laughter. Sakura as gripped her stomach as she shook on Shikamaru's lap and Lee was looking very happy.

"Neji! Me sitting on your lap would be a sign of youthfulness! I am pleased that you have decided to join me and Gai-sensei on the road of youthfulness!" Anime tears fell out of his eyes as he jumped over the table and into Neji's lap.

"What's this talk of youthfulness I hear?" Gai's voice boomed out of the private room they had been drinking in and once again heads popped out of the doorway to see what the twelve were up to.

"Holy shit. Is that Sai under Kiba?" Genma said, shocked.

Kakashi choked. "Sakura's on Shikamaru too."

"My dear students, the spring of youthfulness has arrived!" Gai sensei yelled. "Neji and Lee! The act of sitting with each other is a sign of true youthfulness! He ran over to Lee who hopped off of Neji's lap and hugged his sensei.

"Gai-sensei! Neji is ready to join us in our youthfulness!" Lee cried and a sunset appeared behind the two of them.

"I feel violated and misunderstood." Neji muttered.

"DID NEJI MENTION THAT HE OWNS A TEDDY BEAR?" Tenten screamed.

"Holy shit. They're crazy. What the fuck did you do to your team Kakashi?" Anko asked as the rest of them gaped from the doorway.

"That's _not_ Icha Icha Paradise for sure." Genma chuckled.

"I think they're drunk." Kakashi said firmly with a short nod. "That's right. It's the sake not my teaching."

"Right. Totally." Both Genma and Anko rolled their eyes.

* * *

Ino wasn't drunk. Well, okay, she was, but she wasn't drunk enough to forget the jealousy simmering deep inside. When the _hell_ had Sakura gotten so close to Shikamaru? Even though Ino was in a semi-relationship with Sasuke, it was totally fake! Sasuke just needed a kunoichi from a respectable clan to date for a while so the Elders would get off his back about having babies. Plus the only reason she'd agreed to his ridiculous proposal was because she wanted to get Shikamaru jealous, so he'd finally stop lazing around and notice her.

_Everybody_ knew that Ino and Temari got it _on_ like Donkey Kong over Shikamaru whenever Temari was in town. She totally used the '_I'm the ambassador from Suna which means I need to visit whenever I can to hit on Shikamaru!'_ card way too much. Shikamaru was _her _teammate! Even if Sakura's only rumor source was Ino, and Ino tended to not talk about her catfights with Temari over Shikamaru because they always ended messily, she should still know!

And now, Sakura was sitting in his lap! Looking _amazing!_ In clothes _Ino_ had picked out for her! Ha! Karma!

Still, Ino felt a tinge guilty for thinking about Sakura badly. Afterall, even with her sort of dating Sasuke, Sakura had remained a supportive friend, albeit usually too busy for Ino to tell her everything that happened in Konoha.

'_Eh.'_ Ino brushed away her guilt. _'All's fair in love and war. Besides, Sakura might not even like him. That means I've only got Temari to deal with!'_

* * *

Shikamaru sighed as Sakura squirmed on top of him. His arms were wrapped loosely around her, since she had nearly fallen off his lap and onto the floor as she laughed drunkenly at one of Kiba's jokes.

'_Why are girls so troublesome? Ino and Temari somehow manage to get into the most pointless fights when they're near each other and then they expect me to solve it. And Sakura's the most troublesome of them all. She always brushes those nightmares off and it bothers me. Troublesome.'_ Shikamaru sighed silently.

"Sakura you should probably stop drinking. You have work tomorrow and it'll be one hell of a hangover." Shikamaru tapped Sakura's shoulder to get her attention, since she was currently swaying back on forth on his lap while singing to a song blasting over the speakers.

"Shikaa don't be a party pooper!" Sakura twisted ninety degrees on his lap so she could face him. "Besides, all I've got tomorrow is a couple of surgeries, no big deal! Hey, didn't I tell you no smoking near me?"

Shikamaru nearly choked on the cigarette in his mouth. A couple _surgeries?_ A _couple_? "That's it. I'm taking you home."

"Nooooo Shikaa!" Sakura squirmed around even more on his lap and Shikamaru did his best to convince his mind that she didn't look utterly adorable when she pouted and that he didn't have a very good look down her cleavage as she grabbed onto his shirt with both hands. Fighting to keep his blush down, he merely rolled his eyes as he stood and tossed her over his shoulder.

"We'll be heading out guys." The rest of the group just nodded, too drunk to pay attention. "Troublesome." He walked out the door and headed down the street, Sakura's house was pretty close to the bar so he could just walk over.

"You know, Shika-kun, if you keep saying troublesome you'll never get a girl to fall for you." Sakura chirped. "I think I'm too close to your butt in this position, it makes me notice how firm it is. Ino always did say you had a nice ass."

"Uhh…" Shikamaru had no idea how to respond to that. "Well—"

"Whoo! Nice ass!"

"Wanna ditch that kid to play with the big boys?"

A group of three men stood laughing on the side of the street drinking beer and checking out Sakura's ass, which Shikamaru had forgotten was very visible due to her shorts and the way he was carrying her. Smoothly, he slid her from over his shoulder to carry her princess style.

"We both have nice asses thank you very much." Sakura sniffed. "Shika hoooommmeeeeeeee."

"Yeah troublesome princess. Got it." He shot a glare at the three men before picking up his pace to get to her house faster. Glancing at Sakura, he noticed she had fallen asleep. "Of course."

Eventually he arrive in front of her house and, setting her down gently on the side of the street, disabled the traps then went back to pick her up. As he walked towards her door, he noticed her slight twitching and mumbling and leaned in to hear.

"Mom… Dad…"

* * *

_Sakura stood off to the side in her dream, watching as a grieving Sakura picked herself up from the floor and wiped away her tears. She winced as she watched the transfer jutsu complete, and cringed at the look on younger Sakura's face. It was a mixture of surprise, horror, and sadness, for all the good and bad Konoha had done._

_The image blurred and refocused, Sakura now watched as her younger self prepared for the bi-weekly reports her parents gave to the Hokage. Sakura made two clones, then cast a genjutsu over them that made the clones take the outline of her parents; only the shape was needed, since Tsunade had never seen their faces due to the mask and checked based on the special seal. Which Sakura now had._

_She sent her consciousness into one of the clones and poofed into Tsunade's office. "Hokage-sama." Both clones bowed at the same time, the masks slightly eerie in the light._

_"Alright, let's get this over with. Any news?" Tsunade sat back in her chair, sake cup in hand already._

_"None." The male clone spoke. "Kumo seems to have given up trying to poke around Konoha secrets."_

_"Mmm… I'll bring that up in the meeting tomorrow morning then. Great! Anything else?" Tsunade rubbed her hands together; it had been quite a while since she had been told that none of the hidden shinobi villages were planning to backstab each other. Yet._

_Sakura made her clone speak up then. "Hokage-sama, our heir is now fully prepared and trained and will be taking over our position in a month, possibly less."_

_Tsunade raised her eyebrows. "Only one? Are you sure your heir will be able to handle it?"_

_"Hai, Hokage-sama."_

_"What about you guys? What will you do when he takes over?"_

_Sakura made the male clone answer the question. "We will retire and fully take up positions as regular citizens. Our chakra will be sealed so it will be at a citizen's level and all our knowledge will be removed from our minds and into our heirs. The seal, of course, will remain."_

_"Well, seems like you've gotten this all planned out!" Tsunade grinned. "Will I actually get to see his face then?"_

_"Possibly," Sakura answered, "If needed, our heir will reveal his identity. If not, he will continue with a mask on until he deems fit."_

_"Aww. Darn." Tsunade pouted. It was always a semi-game with the two heads of the Intelligence sector. She knew they and their heir would undoubtedly be loyal to her, Sarutobi had assured her of it, but she just couldn't help wonder who hid behind the mask. "If that's it, dimissed!"_

_"Hai Hokage-sama."_

_Both clones poofed back into Sakura's home, where they instantly vanished. Sakura was left alone to stumble into the kitchen chair, dazed. Pushing away her feelings, she focused on everything she needed to do in order to take on the job of head of Intelligence and excel in medicine._

_And so, Sakura Haruno spent the next two years burying herself in work to forget the pain._

* * *

Sakura groaned as Shikamaru put her down in her bed. "Stay with me," she murmured, half afraid that when she woke up he would be gone, like all the others. "Please don't leave me."

"Troublesome girl," Shikamaru muttered as he dragged a chair over to her bed and sat down. "I'll stay until you fall asleep."

"Thanks Shika." Sakura consciousness fought to stay awake longer, unconsciously murmuring her thoughts. "Please don't leave me."

"Never."

* * *

Sakura woke up with a massive hangover. It felt like tiny people had shoved themselves in through her ears and were now jackhammering her brain so they could take over. She groaned as she noticed the time, 6:00 am, and rolled out of bed so that she could get to her shift, which started in an hour.

'_I need to make the hangover medicine I always give shishou…'_

'**Intense drinking I see. Meanwhile, **_**I**_** had to take over running the network for the night and sifting through **_**useless**_** information! Like Ino's gossip!'** Inner whined.

'_You should know by now that all the gossip in the village immediately gets thrown out from the information pile. It's easy to sort through them.'_ Sakura snorted as she drank the medicine she made and sighed in relief. _'Much better.'_

'**Well I still had to check up on all the people in the network! Do you know how boring that is?'**

'_Yes. Because I do it ninety-nine percent of the time when you're off on fun S-ranked assassination missions.'_

'**Ah. Point taken.'**

'_Exactly.'_ Sakura rolled her eyes as she hopped into the shower for a quick 10 minute shower, and then dressed hurriedly so she could get to work on time. _'Anything I need to know?'_

'**Slightly more surveillance because Suna's ambassadors are coming.'**

'_Ah. Not that I don't like Kankuro and Temari, but they do come an awful lot. It gets annoying with the extra guards.'_

'**Seriously, right? Hey, you better hurry up; you have fifteen minutes before your shift starts…'**

'_Aw shit.'_

* * *

"Sakura-san, the Hokage would like to see you in her office."

Sakura's eyes didn't leave the body of the patient she was currently healing as she replied. "Got it. I'll be there once I finish up here."

"Hai."

Sakura refocused her attention on her patient as she did the last bits of his healing. One un-punctured lung and one fixed rib later, she straightened up in satisfaction and scribbled some notes into the shinobi's folder before heading to her shishou's office.

She knocked gently, knowing full well that Tsunade usually had a hangover at least every other day and loud noises were _not_ appreciated. "Come in."

Sakura opened the door and walked in, closing it gently behind her. "You called for me shishou?"

"Ah yeah. About that." Tsunade stopped rubbing her temples and redirected her attention onto Sakura. "I need you to take over for the hospital."

"Eh?" Sakura squeaked, already running through the options in her mind. If she took over the hospital, it would mean double, possibly triple shifts. That meant she would have to spend nearly all her time at the hospital and Inner Sakura would have to take over Head of Intelligence fully.

"Well, just for two to three weeks. I know it's a lot to handle since Shizune usually handles the hospital pretty well, but since Suna's ambassadors want to renegotiate some of the treaties, I need her to help take notes." Tsunade quickly explained the situation, leaving Sakura slightly more relieved.

"Two to three weeks?" Sakura asked.

"Yep. It'll be hard but it'll be a good experience for you and you'll learn more about how to handle the hospital."

Sakura nodded slowly. "I'll do my best."

Tsunade sighed in relief. "Thanks Sakura. Suna's ambassadors come over a lot, but this time they wanted to talk about Sound and Cloud so I really need Shizune to keep things straight."

"No problem shishou."

* * *

Sakura mulled over Tsunade's words.

'_Sound and Cloud Inner?'_

'**Oh yeah, forgot to mention that they had some suspicious movement recently. Oops.'**

'_Ohhh… You're going to have to stand in on the meetings since I'll be doing hospital shifts.'_

'_**Gah! So… boring!'**_

'_Head of Intelligence remember? We have to stand in on _all _the meetings, relevant or not.'_

'**I know, I know. Guh.'**

'_Ichiraku's ramen for lunch?'_

'**Yeah.'**

Sakura waved goodbye to a couple of her co-workers as she walked out the hospital doors and down the street towards Ichiraku' she stepped in, she noticed Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru sitting at a table together.

"Hey guys!" She greeted and they waved her over to sit with them. "Team lunch?"

"Celebrating the fact that I'll be stuck with troublesome people for the next three weeks." Shikamaru scowled into his ramen as Sakura ordered.

"Yeah, Temari and Kankuro are coming over." Chouji nodded, slurping his second bowl of ramen already.

"I've heard. They're the reason why I'll be working non-stop for the next couple of weeks," Sakura said, sighing as her bowl of ramen was placed in front of her. She broke apart her chopsticks and began eating. "No shogi for the next couple of weeks, Shika, sorry."

"It's fine. I'll have to deal with the Suna group twenty four-seven anyways," Shikamaru muttered.

"Ahhh, forehead, you see our problem?" Ino exclaimed, "They're stealing away a third of Team 8! Unbelievable!"

Sakura frowned. "Don't they do that every other month anyways? It's only different this time because they need to discuss important things with our council, right?"

"Well, yeah, but it's still unbelievable! Temari just pisses me off!" Ino whined, angrily slamming down her chopsticks. Shikamaru just sighed as Chouji finished off his ramen.

"Ahhh… And there's the problem. You don't like Temari…" Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Well—," she began.

"Sakura, it's twelve thirty." Shikamaru interrupted. Sakura squeaked.

"Lunch breaks over! Chouji you can have the rest of my ramen if you'd like, bye guys! Thanks Shika!" Sakura nearly bulldozed a couple in the doorway as she rushed back to the hospital.

"And off goes forehead to overwork herself. Oooh, Chouji, wanna bet how many shifts she can pull in a row?" Ino asked.

Chouji stopped eating Sakura's ramen for a second, pausing to calculate for his bet. "Fifty bucks says that she pulls at least five triples shifts in the next three weeks."

Ino briefly considered how much of a workaholic Sakura was before she threw in her bet. "Fine, I'll put my fifty bucks on less than five triple shifts, considering she'll probably do a lot of double shifts."

Shikamaru frowned. _Triple_ shifts? "Why would Sakura do triple shifts? They're unhealthy and she knows it."

"Ah… Shika, shika," Ino 'tsked.' "Haven't you noticed? Sakura is a workaholic. Add that to the fact that Suna's discussing important things when they arrive means that she'll be taking over the Hospital for the next couple of weeks. She already does double shifts because there aren't enough medics, so now she'll be doing triple!"

"Yeah, it's kind of scary how hard she pushes herself." Chouji had finished Sakura's barely touch ramen and sat back in his chair, satisfied.

"Mmm… And the Hokage can't do anything because Sakura's too valuable at the Hospital to take a day off." Shikamaru mused.

"Yep!" Ino chirped. "Don't worry, she'll be fine, she does it all the time!"

That sentence did not make Shikamaru feel assured. He groaned as a chuunin appeared.

"The Suna delegation has arrived Shikamaru-san."

"Thanks. I'll be right there." He ignored Ino gnashing her teeth as he stood up. "See ya guys later."

"Bye!" Chouji waved as Ino scowled. Shikamaru just sighed.

_Sakura is indeed the most troublesome of them all. I'll have to check up on her when I escape Temari._

* * *

Shikamaru groaned as he slowly walked to the gates. It was always to troublesome when Suna's ambassadors came because Kankuro liked to pull pranks with Naruto, that resulted in Sakura giving divine punishment, and Temari and Ino always fought with him in the middle. He and Temari used to sort of be a couple. Sort of. They had never officially confirmed with each other that they were dating and the long distance made it even harder. So now it was just… troublesome.

"Shika-kun!" Temari jumped out from the small group to hug him as Kankuro rolled his eyes. "Miss me?"

"Sure." Always take the neutral route with girls. Never ever get them angry at you, because they can easily make your life a living hell. Shikamaru based his personal rules off of years of watching his father screw up and having his mother berate his endlessly.

"Ahem. Temari." Shikamaru turned around to see Ino glaring at Temari, hands at her hips and head cocked. "Seems like you come over a lot huh? A lot."

"Ino. Seems like you interrupt a lot," Temari said, glaring back.

"Alright ladies, break it up so we can get out of meetings within a week." Kankuro stepped forward, causing Ino and Temari to redirect their glares at him. "Annnd, nevermind. Continue glaring at someone other than me."

Shikamaru just sighed. So troublesome. He wished Sakura were here so that his headache would go away.

* * *

Sakura was tired. So tired she could probably collapse and sleep for a week.

It had been nearly two weeks since the Suna delegation had arrived and, according to Inner, things were wrapping up nicely. But Shizune was still needed at the meetings and couldn't come back to take some of the load off Sakura, which was why she was currently in the middle of pulling a triple shift. She was running on six hours of sleep, at least three soldier pills, and a whole lot of caffeine. Each shift was six hours, and she had been working for almost eighteen. Twenty more minutes, two more patients, and she could go home to sleep for a couple hours.

She glanced at the clock. Almost five. Her hopes lifted as she walked over to the secretary desk.

"Hey Hana-san, are there any more that need my attention?" Hana looked up from stacking papers to check the files.

"A couple, but the other medics should be able to handle it without your help. There's only ten more minutes to five. You look tired, go home and sleep!" Hana smiled kindly at Sakura who, in her opinion, still looked beautiful but in a wilted sort of way due to the shadows under her eyes.

"Thanks, Hana-san. Call me if there's an emergency okay?" Sakura managed to make her facial muscles move into a small smile before she clocked out and dragged herself out the hospital doors. Her next shift started at one in the morning, which meant around six hours of sleep.

'_Thank god. Inner, how's it going on your end?'_

'**Meeting ended early at around two, so Tsunade assigned us to a recon mission.'**

'_Ahh… Have fun.'_

Sakura tuned back into the world as she walked past the movie theaters on the way to her house. Kami she needed sleep so badly. Her body wouldn't take it well if she drank any more caffeine or popped another soldier pill, her legs were already trembling slightly.

"Sakura?"

Sakura halted in her steps, cursing her luck. Whomever had called out her name definitely wanted to talk with her, meaning she'd have to either bear with the chatter or fall to the ground and sleep.

* * *

Shikamaru nearly screamed as he walked out of the movie theater with Ino hanging onto his left arm and Temari hanging onto his right. Normally, a guy would consider himself very lucky that he had two girls hanging onto him, but not Shikamaru. Temari had asked him out to watch a movie with her and somehow Ino had found out, resulting in him sitting in the middle of them as they bickered over the chick flick.

He had spent the entire movie focusing on the miniscule mole on the lead actors neck to try and ignore Ino and Temari. It hadn't worked very well and every time they found a new topic to argue about, which was every minute, they always needed his opinion to solve the argument. If he picked Temari's side, Ino would hiss. If he picked Ino's side, Temari would snarl. They continued throughout the whole movie and now that they were leaving they were _still _ at it.

Shikamaru perked up considerably as he saw a flash of pink hair. _Oh thank Kami._

"Sakura?" Ino squealed, happy to drag in Sakura so that she could back Ino up against Temari. She cringed slightly as she took in Sakura's appearance. "Woah. I bet you she just finished a triple. Maybe I should have included the number of soldier pills she runs on in the bet," Ino mumbled.

Shikamaru frowned as Sakura turned towards them. She was pale, far too pale, the shadows under her eyes were dark, and she looked like she would throw up if someone bumped into her.

"Sakura, are you okay?" He carefully wormed his way out of Ino and Temari's grasp and walked over to Sakura, who seemed to be zoning out. "Sakura?"

"I'm fine! How's it going? I'm kind of busy right now, bye!" Sakura's eyes were glassy as she looked at Shikamaru, but didn't really _see_ who he was. His concern for her grew as she began stumbling her way back to her house and he could see her arms and legs visibly trembling.

In two long strides he caught up with her easily and grabbed her arm. "Sakura look at me." The fog in her eyes seem to clear away. "How long have you been working at the hospital?"

"Shika?" She murmured. "I'm so tired. I'm so tired Shika." Her knees buckled underneath her as she fell into unconsciousness and Shikamaru quickly caught her, swiftly positioning her princess style. He turned back to Ino and Temari, who were gaping open mouthed at the scene before them.

"I'm taking her home." Shikamaru cradled Sakura in his arms as he started walking back to her house.

"What? You're supposed to be the one showing the ambassadors around." Temari snapped.

"You come here often enough to know your way around. If you get lost ask Ino. I'm going." He ignored both girls' protests as he hopped onto a roof to get to Sakura's house quicker.

_Should've listened when Ino said she was a workaholic. Tch. Troublesome._

Temari glared at the tiny bit of pink she could see that wasn't covered by Shikamaru's body. _I never knew they were friends._ She turned to Ino, "Since when were Shikamaru and Sakura _friends_?"

Ino looked just as confused as she did. "I don't know. He seemed a little more distant starting half a year ago… He told me he had found a new shogi partner—oh!"

"Must have been Sakura," Temari muttered, "And how close are they? I've never seen him help a girl back to her house, he's too lazy."

"She's a threat," Ino whispered. "She can't have him, she's got the rest of the _village_ to pick from!"

Temari snorted. "The village? Aren't you overestimating her too much?"

Ino shook her head. "She never notices because she's too busy overworking herself but her fanclub is huge. It even has people from _Suna_ in it, like your brother."

"Kankuro. I'll kill him." Temari paced back and forth as she ran through ideas in her mind. "I've been after him for way too long for you and pinky to get in my way."

"Hmph," Ino harrumphed, "Deal with her yourself then, Sakura's my best friend so I'll wage a clean, fair war with her. You, on the other hand, can hurry up with negotiations so that you can leave. Good bye." And with that she turned and began stomping back to her house, leaving Temari growling in annoyance.

* * *

Sakura had been pissed. So pissed. There she was, making her way tiredly back home, and _someone_ just _had_ to call her name!

"Sakura, are you okay? Sakura."

_Oh god. It's a male voice now, there are more people? Please just shut up… Ah… gotta stay polite._

Turning so she could face the speaker, she willed her eyeballs to look in the direction of the person's face before mumbling a few polite phrases. "I'm fine," she chirped, "How's it going? I'm kind of busy right now, bye!" _Go awaaay._

Sakura turned back towards her house as quickly as possible and quickened her pace, whimpering slightly when she felt a hand grab her arm.

'_Why won't they let me go home to sleep in peace? Why?'_ She sobbed inside her mind.

"Sakura look at me." Sakura snapped out of her daze to focus, finally realizing that it was Shikamaru who was talking to her. "How long have you been working at the hospital?"

Relief washed over her. Shikamaru's presence made her weariness fade slightly, she still felt like she wanted to roll over and die though. "Shikaa? Shika, I'm so tired."

'_He'll take care of me. He promised.'_

Then her vision was replaced with darkness.

_Shit. Shit Shit Shit. Troublesome. Shit._

Shikamaru placed Sakura gently to the ground as he proceeded to disable all of her traps in record time and picked her up to rush through the door. She looked so fragile in his arms and compared to the last time he had carried her, much too light.

"Bed… Sheets… Troublesome… " He mumbled as he tossed aside her covers and set her down, making sure to cover her as he headed to her kitchen to make her some sandwiches.

* * *

_Shit. Shit Shit Shit. Troublesome. Shit._

Shikamaru placed Sakura gently to the ground as he proceeded to disable all of her traps in record time and picked her up to rush through the door. She looked so fragile in his arms and compared to the last time he had carried her, much too light.

"Bed… Sheets… Troublesome… " He mumbled as he tossed aside her covers and set her down, making sure to cover her as he headed to her kitchen to make her some sandwiches.

* * *

Shikamaru stood in front of Sakura's bed, trying to come to a decision. He had checked her schedule to find out her shift started at one, and had called the hospital to move it to five. So that was done. Now, he stood in front of her, debating whether he should change her clothes.

_Ahh…. What if she punches me like she does to Naruto… Then I'd die and that would be so troublesome. But if she wakes up in dirty clothes she might be in a bad mood which will make my day troublesome. Why is life so troublesome?_

* * *

_So sorry for the late update but with school starting... I died.  
Plus I spent quite a while raging at Microsoft Word because I KNOW I typed more than 9,000 words for this chapter before I took a break but Word didn't save it or something so now... 5,000 words. Gone._

_Rage._

_Please Read and Review though! :D_


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